Swallow WESTERN BIRDS 



nests, which are also painstakingly made of mud pellets, 

 interspersed with straws. The walls of these open nests 

 are often an inch thick, and so lined with feathers aa 

 to almost conceal the eggs. 



West of the Rockies the Barn Swallows are not so 

 common as in many of the eastern States. They have 

 taken a queer way of going to caves and crevices, rather 

 than barns, to raise their young. In this respect they 

 seem to have changed places with the Cliff Swallows 

 which are very common about human habitations rather 

 than the places which have given them their name. If 

 the cliffs were the original nesting sites of the Barn 

 Swallows, they have failed to avail themselves of the 

 buildings which the advancement of civilization has 

 brought. 



The common call of these birds is a soft witt, oft re- 

 peated, while the alarm note is a harsh t'r'r'r. Nuttall 

 says that "their song is very sprightly, and sometimes a 

 good while continued. Some of these sounds seem like 

 't'le 't'le 't'letalit, uttered with rapidity and great anima- 

 tion. A while before their departure, they are observed 

 skimming along the rivers and ponds after insects in 

 great numbers, till the approach of sunset, when they 

 assemble to roost in the reeds." 



GENUS IRIDOPKOCNE : TREE 

 SWALLOW. 



Tree Swallow: Iridoprocne btcolor. 



FAMILY— SWALLOWS. 



The Tree, or White-bellied Swallow, one of the hand- 

 somest of the family, is found in North America from 

 the limit of trees, south to southern California, Colorado, 

 Kansas, Missouri, and Virginia; wintering from central 

 California, southern Texas, southern parts of the Gulf 



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